Aircraft and other complex vehicles include many systems which are controlled by the pilot or another crew member during operations. Such systems may provide any number of functions, including flight control and cabin environmental systems. Although some systems are located nearby to the pilot's controls, other systems are situated in remote locations of the aircraft.
Aircraft switch design, like the design of other aircraft components, is complicated by space, mounting, and weight requirements. In order to address these issues, aircraft systems may be designed to eliminate or reduce the number of certain components. Wiring in an aircraft, for example, may be reduced or eliminated by incorporating local wireless communications in some applications.
By using wireless switches, for example, it is possible to avoid routing and weight problems presented by traditional wiring, particularly where a switched system is disposed in a part of the aircraft remote from the switch.
However typical aircraft systems include many switched systems. Because of this, using a separate radio transceiver for each switch on a given panel can create design problems. These problems may include increased expense and/or increased complexity.
A particular problem in designing a system using multiple radio transceivers is radio interference. If each of a number of switches is communicating wirelessly within an aircraft, their signals may interfere with one another, potentially resulting in faulty or delayed switching.
Furthermore, the radio signals may interfere with the aircraft's internal and external communications, including voice and data communications. Because radio communications are critical to the operation of an aircraft, such interference could result in safety problems.
Another consideration in designing aircraft switches is usability. Despite automatic control systems in modern aircraft, the attention of a pilot is consumed by a heavy workload. Accordingly, visibility and ease of use are important design considerations.
It is therefore desired to provide a switching system that addresses these issues.